In this week’s episode of The Accent Journey podcast, we explored how backchannels and discourse markers help native speakers communicate smoothly and naturally.
We’ve already explored this topic in a previous post, so please check that out for an explanation of how these words and phrases are used in everyday English conversations.
In this post, you’ll find the practice material for the phrases, dialogues, and passage from this week’s podcast episode.
Practice: Backchannel Pronunciation
Read each expression aloud.
Pay attention to the pitch pattern.
Falling Intonation
- Mhm ↘
- Uh-huh ↘
- Right ↘
- I see ↘
- Wow ↘
Rising Intonation
- Really? ↗
Repeat each one several times.
Try to imitate the natural melody, not just the words.
Practice Dialogue #1
Repeat both roles.
A: I finally finished my project.
B: Oh, wow ↘
A: It took almost three weeks.
B: Mhm ↘
Practice Dialogue #2
A: I got a promotion yesterday.
B: Really? ↗
A: Yeah, I’m excited.
B: That’s great.
Practice Dialogue #3
A: The meeting lasted almost four hours.
B: Wow ↘
A: Everyone was exhausted.
B: I see ↘
Practice Dialogue #4
A: The flight was delayed again.
B: Right ↘
A: We didn’t arrive until midnight.
B: Uh-huh ↘
Practice: Discourse Markers
Read these sentences aloud.
Focus on making the discourse marker feel natural and conversational.
- Well, I hadn’t thought about that.
- So, what happened next?
- Anyway, let’s continue.
- I mean, it wasn’t a big problem.
- Well, maybe you’re right.
- So, that’s why we left early.
Weekly Practice Passage
Read the passage aloud several times.
The first time, focus on pronunciation.
The second time, imagine you’re having a real conversation and pause naturally where appropriate.
So, last weekend I visited some friends in another city. We spent the afternoon exploring local restaurants and walking around downtown. At one point, we got completely lost. Well, eventually we found our way back, and everything worked out fine. Anyway, it turned into a really fun day.
Now read it again and imagine where a listener might naturally respond with:
- Mhm ↘
- Right ↘
- Wow ↘
- Really? ↗
This exercise will help you develop awareness of how real conversations actually work.
Your Challenge This Week
Choose a podcast interview and keep track of every time you hear:
- mhm
- right
- wow
- uh-huh
- really
Also listen for discourse markers such as:
- so
- well
- anyway
- I mean
You’ll quickly discover that fluent speakers use these expressions far more often than you might realize.
Then choose one or two backchannels and start using them intentionally in your own conversations. Before long, your conversations will begin to feel smoother, friendlier, and more natural.
Make sure you let us know how you’ve integrated these simple phrases into your English, and how they’ve helped you!
